


subject acquisitions

by sora_grey



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Childhood Trauma, Dark Past, Hawkins National Laboratory, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Newspaper Article, Newspapers, Origin Stories, Original Character Death(s), Other, POV Outsider, Pre-Series, Twins, Unreliable Narrator, also...sorry about the uncreative title, goddamn my author’s notes are long, sorry about that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22986004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sora_grey/pseuds/sora_grey
Summary: Just how did Hawkins Lab obtain all their test subjects?(Also known as the one where I attempt to write a series of newspaper articles featuring the rest of El’s siblings prior to their incarceration.)Updated sporadically.
Kudos: 3





	1. Subjects Nine and Control

**Author's Note:**

> Edit, 6/14/20: I originally intended to do only one newspaper article featuring [Jamie](https://strangerthings.fandom.com/wiki/Jamie) and [Marcy](https://strangerthings.fandom.com/wiki/Marcy). Then my brain decided to go "hey, lemme write more origin stories for all of El’s siblings that _haven’t_ been mentioned."
> 
> So basically any sibling who aren’t El and Kali (both of whom are canon characters), or [Ricky](https://strangerthings.fandom.com/wiki/Ricky) and [Francine](https://strangerthings.fandom.com/wiki/Francine) (Subjects Three and Six, respectively) from the [Six comics](https://strangerthings.fandom.com/wiki/Stranger_Things:_SIX) will get their own newspaper article/backstory.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before they were called _Nine_ and _Control,_ they were named _Jamie_ and _Marcy._
> 
> (Or how Hawkins Lab acquired two of their test subjects. As told by Charles Walcott, an employee who has a second job as a journalist.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there are several things to know before reading:
> 
> 1\. Even though this mentions Jamie and Marcy from the Six series, I wanted to provide some kind of backstory for them.
> 
> 2\. The people at Hawkins Lab claimed that the twins were victims of abuse, but I’m not sure about that, considering their track record.
> 
> 3\. I mean, these are the same people that were diabolical enough to hide _El’s existence_ from Terry Ives and also faked Will’s _dead body._ It’s not out of the realm of possibility that those shady arseholes could cook up a bogus news article as well. Hence the _unreliable narrator_ tag.
> 
> 4\. At the time of writing this, Jamie and Marcy don’t have an official last name, so I gave them _Tonetti._
> 
> 5\. [Shepard’s](https://strangerthings.fandom.com/wiki/Shepard) first name is also unknown, so I decided on _Gary._
> 
> 6\. Any other characters one doesn’t recognize are products of the author’s imagination and obviously not part of ST canon.

* * *

_From The Elkhart Truth, circa March 1978_

**Mysterious fire exposes ugly family secret**

by _Charles Walcott_

Mystery continues to surround an unexplained fire that incinerated a home late Tuesday night, killing 34-year-old Gio Tonetti, his 35-year-old wife Faith, and their sons Matteo, 15 and Bruno, 13. The Tonettis' nine-year-old daughters, Jamie and Marcy, survived the blaze and escaped unharmed.

According to the Elkhart Fire Department, the fire originated in an upstairs bedroom shared by the Tonetti twins, which eventually spread to the rest of the house. Lieutenant Simon Karras noted that the air smelled like kerosene, yet the only can of kerosene found in the family’s garage was unopened and there were no other cans found on the property. Even more baffling, Karras said that his team throughly examined both the gas and electrical lines, neither of which showed signs of rupture or tampering, which also ruled out the possibility of arson.

"A fire definitely happened here,” said another firefighter, Bill Novotny. "But without any physical evidence or suspects, we can’t prove anything!"

A third firefighter, Jacob Wallace, scoffed at the idea that one or both of the girls may have started the fire, stating that it would’ve been impossible considering its origin point, which would’ve meant putting themselves in harm’s way. "Anyway, it’s not like they could do that with their minds!" retorted Wallace.

It was also noted by the EMTs on scene that the girls were not found with any type of accelerant on them or on their clothes.

Further investigation by Child Protective Services uncovered evidence that the Tonetti children had been physically abused by their parents. CPS obtained records from three different hospitals in Indiana and discovered that all four of them had visited their ERs multiple times over the last ten years. Their injuries ranged from hypothermia to more serious incidents such as broken bones and concussions. Autopsies on both Matteo and Bruno Tonetti also revealed numerous circular scars resembling cigarette burns on their backs and arms. It’s more than likely that the Tonetti girls have similar scars on their bodies as well.

The Tonettis' neighbors were unsurprised by the child abuse allegations. "I had my suspicions about those kids," said Noah Kessel, who lived down the street from the family. "Whenever I saw them around town, I’d always see a new contusion or injury." Kessel attempted to confront Gio and Faith Tonetti about the treatment of their children several times, only to be told by the two of them that it was a family matter and that he should stay out of it.

Another neighbor, Sadie Brown, mentioned that she, her family, and several others attempted to befriend the Tonettis when they arrived from Terre Haute five years ago, but their overtures were rejected by the Tonetti parents. Their self-imposed isolation was extreme enough that they homeschooled their children and were unwilling to let them make friends their own age. "It wasn’t right, what they were doing to those kids," said Brown.

CPS has awarded custody of Jamie and Marcy Tonetti to Faith Tonetti’s estranged older brother Gary Shepard, a scientist living in Hawkins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some other things to know (according to wikipedia):
> 
> 1\. [The Elkhart Truth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elkhart_Truth) is an actual Indiana newspaper, though the byline I used is fictional.
> 
> 2\. As a frame of reference, the town of [Elkhart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkhart,_Indiana) is located 150 miles north of Indianapolis.
> 
> 3\. And [Terre Haute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terre_Haute,_Indiana) is 75 miles west of Indianapolis.


	2. Subject Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A possible origin story for _Subject Five_ , formerly known as _Antonella "Nellie" Prescott._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out, this newspaper article (and all future ones I write) will be missing bylines and publication dates (for example, _March 1978_ ), though in my mind they have all been written prior to 1980.
> 
> Second, the years that El’s siblings were stolen from their families will be unknown as well. This is done mainly due to me being lazy, but also because the timeline is a goddamn mess.
> 
> Lastly, their real names and number designations (with the exceptions of El, Kali, and the ones from the Six comics) are part of my own fanon.

* * *

_From the Cleveland Press_

**Cleveland teen girl missing in Indiana**

****

****

Missing Persons investigators in two different states are seeking the public’s help in locating 16-year-old high school senior Antonella "Nellie" Prescott. Prescott, who attends Saint Joseph Academy as an honors student and is captain of the girls basketball team, has been missing since last Friday, following a basketball conference game in Indianapolis, Indiana.

After leading her team, the Jaguars, to victory against the Shortridge High School Blue Devils that night, Prescott was later reported missing by one of her teammates. According to the unnamed teammate, Prescott was last seen in Shortridge High’s stadium just before 9:00 PM and is assumed to have disappeared shortly after 9:20 PM.

The unnamed teammate then informed Coach Sharon Webber that Prescott never made it back to the bus that was waiting to take the team back to Cleveland. Webber, the bus driver, and the rest of the team were delayed from making the journey home for over two hours while they were being questioned by local law enforcement.

Prescott’s widower father Dylan, who drove to Indianapolis when he got the call from Webber, describes his daughter as "a genius" and a passionate athlete strong for her age. Dylan Prescott also mentioned that she had skipped a grade back in elementary school and is set to attend Mary Manse College in Toledo for the fall semester.

"I usually try to attend Nellie’s games, but I didn’t that night because of a work emergency," said Dylan Prescott. Neither he nor the Indianapolis Police Department believe that the girl ran away willingly.

Antonella Prescott is six feet two inches tall with one hazel eye and one light blue eye, and has short, curly brown hair. She was last seen wearing a purple-and-gold basketball uniform, purple socks, and dirty off-white sneakers.

In a bizarre twist, a teenage girl matching Antonella Prescott’s general description was found in the streets of Elkhart, Indiana on Tuesday afternoon. Elkhart is 150 miles away from Indianapolis, where the Prescott girl was last seen four nights ago. The unidentified teenage girl was brought to the Elkhart Police Department in a mild state of distress, but insisted multiple times that she was not Antonella Prescott. To the astonishment of the police officers, fingerprint analysis later confirmed the girl’s identity as 17-year-old Jennie Rutherford.

Rutherford was reportedly vindicated by the news. "Of course I (expletive) know who I am," retorted Rutherford, who was remanded back to her parents, Lynne and Maxwell. "I don’t need my fingerprints to tell me that!"

Lynne Rutherford was appalled by the snafu and was outraged that her daughter has been repeatedly harassed by the police regarding her own identity.

Gilbert Redding, who was one of the officers who questioned Jennie Rutherford, admitted it was an honest mistake. Redding remarked that the physical resemblance between Jennie Rutherford and Antonella Prescott was uncanny, as the two girls are the same height and have the same athletic build. Like Prescott, Rutherford also has curly brown hair.

Aside from their fingerprints, the only other noticeable difference between the two girls were the colors of Jennie Rutherford’s eyes, both of which were the wrong shades.

"One of the Rutherford girl’s eyes was a dark brown and the other one was an even darker bluish-black," said Redding. "Otherwise, the two girls were virtually identical."

Meanwhile, back in Cleveland, Prescott’s father held a news conference in front of his home on that same Tuesday afternoon, asking for his daughter’s safe return. "To the people who have my Nellie, bring her back to me," pleaded Dylan Prescott.

Anyone with any information regarding Antonella Prescott’s whereabouts should either contact the Cleveland Police Department or the Indianapolis Police Department.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More things to know (info from wikipedia):
> 
> 1\. The [Cleveland Press](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Press) is a real newspaper, but it ceased publication in 1982.
> 
> 2\. The high schools I mentioned, [Shortridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortridge_High_School) and [ Saint Joseph’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph_Academy_\(Cleveland,_Ohio\)), are also real.
> 
> 3\. The same goes for [Mary Manse College](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Manse_College), though it shut down in 1975.


	3. Subject Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A possible backstory about _Subject Two,_ who once had the name _Jonah Carter._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Ricky couldn’t possibly be the only test subject who was male, right?

* * *

_From the Topeka State Journal_

_[attached to the newspaper article is a black-and-white photograph of a smiling young woman with her toddler-aged son. The woman is dressed casually in a knit sweater. Her son sits atop her shoulders wearing a T-Rex costume that appears handmade, playfully snarling at the camera.]_

** Pawnee County toddler sole survivor of home invasion **

**Larned** —A three-year-old boy was the only witness of a home invasion at the Beechwood Apartment building, which killed his 23-year-old mother Tiana Carter early Thursday morning. Carter was found in the combined kitchen/living room area of her apartment, which showed signs of a struggle. She had been beaten to death, her head bashed in and her feet and ankles bound with duct tape. A bloody baseball bat was recovered from under the sofa and is believed to be the weapon used in Carter’s attack.

Carter’s young son Jonah, who was physically unharmed, was found crying in a closet. The toddler told one of the officers on scene, Erin Alonso, that two bad men had broken into the home and that one of them shoved him in the closet "on your mama’s orders".

"It was horrible," said Alonso. "The poor kid was screaming for his mother when we were getting him out of that apartment."

Authorities have since identified one of the men involved as Carter’s ex-boyfriend, 24-year-old Darryl Whitfield, who was later discovered to be the young boy’s father. The other man identified was Whitfield’s friend Shay Clifton, also 24. Both Whitfield and Clifton have prior arrests for public intoxication, as well as committing a slew of convenience store robberies some 18 months ago.

Some of the Beechwood tenants reported seeing a young man fitting Darryl Whitfield’s description loitering outside the building earlier that week. They all stated that they were unnerved by Whitfield, who alternated between smoking cigarettes and shouting increasingly violent threats about what he’d do to Carter. At one point, one of the tenants, Andre Hayward, went down to confront Whitfield, but the latter had vacated the premises by the time Hayward exited the building.

"I don’t know what that young man was up to, hanging around like that," said Hayward. "That hooligan was shouting such obscene things about Miss Carter and I refused to let that stand."

"[Whitfield] was intimidating as hell," said another tenant, who asked to remain anonymous. "Tiana was all shook up afterwards, refused to let herself or her son leave their apartment that day."

Carter’s fellow tenants at the Beechwood were outraged and aghast by the tragic turn of events.

"It ain’t right, the little one losing his mom like that," said Abigail Dunn, who lives in the apartment next door to the Carters. Dunn, 71, is a retired elementary school teacher who often babysat Jonah Carter while Tiana Carter worked mornings as a waitress at a local diner.

"I hope the cops catch the (expletives) who did this," added Hayward.

Whitfield and Clifton were last seen running towards a gas station two miles from the Beechwood Apartment building. The police are hopeful that either the gas station or some of the nearby businesses in the area will have security footage that would help them arrest the two men. Should anyone catch sight of the duo, it is not advisable to approach them. They are instead encouraged to dial 911.

Jonah Carter has no other living relatives aside from Darryl Whitfield, so he is considered as a ward of the state of Kansas until he can be placed with a foster family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some additional information:
> 
> 1\. According to google, [Larned](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larned,_Kansas) is 211.6 miles away from [Topeka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topeka,_Kansas).
> 
> 2\. The [_Topeka State Journal_](https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016014/) was the name the [Topeka Capital-Journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Topeka_Capital-Journal) used from 1892-1980.
> 
> 3\. As far as I know, there is no Beechwood Apartment building in Kansas. However, according to google and [this site](https://apartments.com), buildings with that same name actually exist in the following cities: 
> 
> •Fresno, Lynwood, and Santa Ana (all in California)
> 
> •Greensboro, North Carolina
> 
> •Cincinnati, Ohio
> 
> •Carnegie and Narberth (both in Pennsylvania)
> 
> •Houston, Texas
> 
> •Norfolk, Virginia


	4. Subject One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A potential origin story for _Subject One_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I once said that I would not use any canon characters, but this is an exception.
> 
> I’ve been thinking about [Sara Hopper](https://strangerthings.fandom.com/wiki/Sara_Hopper) and how apparently her death by cancer _isn’t the full story._ So I went ahead and used [this theory](https://screenrant.com/stranger-things-sara-hopper-daughter-death-hawkins-lab/).
> 
> Eagle-eyed readers may notice that this newspaper article is unlike the ones I wrote in previous chapters.
> 
> I got some of Sara’s information off her fandom page, but otherwise I’m playing fast and loose with her history.

* * *

From the _New York Times , obituary section_

Sara Louise Hopper, aged 7, passed away from cancer on November 16th, 1978 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Sara was born on April 18, 1971 to parents James "Jim" and Diane (McClendon) Hopper. A gifted, curious child, Sara had a keen interest in science, with a particular passion for galaxies and aspired to one day become an astronomer. She also loved reading books with her father, playing at Seward Park, and the color blue.

Sara is survived by Jim and Diane. She was preceded in death by grandparents Henry and Louise Hopper, as well as great-grandfather Samuel Hopper.

Funeral services will take place at The Cathedral of Saint Patrick on November 22, 1978 at 2:00 PM. Flowers and monetary donations are respectfully declined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other information to know:
> 
> 1\. The [New York Times](https://nytimes.com) was founded in 1851 as the _New-York Daily Times_. It adopted its [current name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times) in 1896.
> 
> 2.. With Sara’s interest in galaxies, I believe that she might have been an astronomer, or at least chosen to work in a similar field (like astrophysics) as an adult.
> 
> 3\. [Seward Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seward_Park_\(Manhattan\)) is located on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
> 
> 4\. Unless established in either canon or expanded universe, Hopper’s parents' names are _Henry_ and _Louise_ , while his grandfather’s name is _Samuel_.
> 
> 5\. About Sara’s full name: I have this headcanon that Diane decided on her first name, while Hopper honored his mother by choosing _Louise_ as Sara’s middle name.
> 
> 6\. Both [MSKCC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Sloan_Kettering_Cancer_Center) and [The Cathedral of Saint Patrick](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Patrick%27s_Cathedral_\(Manhattan\)) are also located in New York.


End file.
